the new of - Hay Group

rules
engagement
the new
of
How people work, and what they want from an employer, is changing.
Major forces are reshaping the business environment as we know it,
and rewriting the rules of employee engagement. In a complex and
uncertain future, how will you keep your workforce switched on?
All change
The rules of engagement have changed.
Two major forces are reshaping how your organization will attract,
motivate and retain the talent it needs to stay competitive.
First, as economies rebound from the global financial
crisis, millions of employees are now thinking about their
next career move. Improving job markets mean more
scope for talented employees to choose where they work.
“
As the world
goes through
change, we
need to get
closer to our
people than
ever before.
”
Keith Astill
Divisional Director – Corporate HR,
Nationwide
Our research, in conjunction with the Centre for Economic
Business Research, predicts that by the end of 2018 almost
a quarter (23.4 per cent) of people worldwide will have
changed jobs. That’s some 192 million workers due to
hand in their notice over the next four years. (You can find
out more about the coming talent exodus in our Taking
Flight whitepaper.)
At the same time, the world is undergoing unprecedented
change. Our ground-breaking Leadership 2030 research
highlights six powerful ‘megatrends’ that are transforming
societies and the global business environment as we know
it (see panel, The future, trending near you).
Megatrends are lasting, deep-seated developments
with far-reaching effects on societies, economies and
organizations. The megatrends our research has identified
are:
1. Globalization 2.0
2. The environmental crisis
3. Demographic change
4. Individualism
5. Digitization
6. Technological convergence
The megatrends are fundamentally changing how we
work, what we care about in the workplace and what
we need from our employers. To succeed, businesses
must rethink how they engage and enable their people
and earn the loyalty of their employees. This is a critical
time to reshape your engagement strategy and develop
an innovative new talent management approach that
responds to the changes happening around us.
4
the new rules of engagement
The future: trending near you
Our Leadership 2030 research highlights six global megatrends that are fundamentally
changing relationships between businesses, their customers and employees:
1
Globalization 2.0
page 6
Economic power is shifting from West to East,
giving rise to a new global middle class.
2
Environmental crisis
page 8
The environment is becoming more and more
important to people, as climate change gathers
pace and natural resources grow scarce.
3
Demographic change
page 10
Aging populations are reshaping the global
workforce and exacerbating the war for talent.
4
Individualism
page 12
Growing freedom of choice is eroding loyalty and
transforming workplace motivation.
5
Digitization
page 14
Work and the workplace are going remote, and the
boundaries between professional and personal life are
blurring, as people are increasingly operating online.
6
Technological convergence
Powerful shifts in technology are transforming
everyday life and creating new product markets.
For more on the megatrends, please visit:
http://www.haygroup.com/leadership2030
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
page 16
The future’s different
Business success has always depended on an engaged workforce.
Companies with engaged employees achieve better business results. Our
research among millions of employees worldwide shows that firms scoring
highest for engagement achieve 2.5 times the revenue growth of those that
rate lowest – it’s a prize worth fighting for.
“
As the talent exodus looms, and the megatrends gather force, sustaining
an engaged workforce will be critical - while the role of the engagement
professional will be more complex, demanding and challenging than
ever before.
The good news is engagement professionals recognise the opportunity to
have a greater impact. However, our survey of 300 heads of engagement at
Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 companies suggests that many are yet to act:
• O
ver four in five heads of engagement agree that their company needs
to find new ways to engage its workforce in light of the changing
environment.
• Yet just one third feel their organization is adapting to the megatrends.
• And only a quarter have personally started to drive change.
The megatrends
Adapting to the megatrends means understanding them in detail. What
does each one entail? What will it mean for workforce motivation? What
can you do now to prepare for its impact, and make your engagement
strategy fit for the future?
“
Fresh approaches
to employee
engagement are
critical to sustain
high organizational
performance. It’s a
challenging task.
But failure is not
an option, because
the ability to
attract and retain
talent will either
be a competitive
advantage or a
fatal flaw.
”
Gary Short
Senior Consultant, Talent Management,
Kimberly-Clark
Highly engaged employees are crucial for
the execution of our strategy, for creativity
and innovation. I believe that our future
success depends largely on them.
Tom Plug
Lead Engagement Expert, KPN
”
6
the new rules of engagement
globalization 2.0
lost in translation
What is the globalization 2.0 megatrend?
Economic power is shifting from ‘old’ Western economies to the emerging markets of Latin America,
Eastern Europe and in particular, Asia.
Rapid growth in these parts of the world is creating a new global middle class, with impressive
spending power.
This is leading to intense competition for new markets, each with its own unique local flavor.
To exploit these opportunities, multinational businesses must increase local participation in strategic
and operational decisions. This will call for closer collaboration between the different corporate
functions and regional divisions.
What will it mean for engagement?
Under globalization 2.0 the talent market has gone
global, with established corporations now having to
battle with new competitors for valuable skills.
This will force organizations to think creatively about
how to attract, engage and retain talent across the
world. Engagement strategies and plans must have the
flexibility for local teams to adapt them to local cultures,
priorities and talent markets.
And as cross-border cooperation becomes essential,
organizations must enable meaningful collaboration.
This means establishing cultures, platforms and
processes to make cooperating easy, and equipping
people with the appropriate skills. Without these
enabling factors, employees will quickly grow frustrated
if they need to work with colleagues in other countries.
Think global, engage local:
Tesco, Kimberly-Clark and localization
Multinational organizations Tesco and Kimberly-Clark
understand the need to adapt their engagement activities
to local needs.
“We look for a balance,” says Michael Webley, Head of
Global People Insight at Tesco. “Group needs to measure
engagement globally, and set strategy in line with our
commercial objectives. But on-the-ground action has to
work for local cultures and contexts.”
Gary Short, Senior Consultant, Talent Management at
Kimberly-Clark agrees. “We engage globally and empower
locally so organizational units can react in the most
effective way based on their unique challenges and
opportunities.”
Tesco has ‘engagement champions’ in each of its markets.
“It’s their job to translate what our approach means for
their country, and implement suitable action plans,”
Michael explains.
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
An example of this in action at Tesco is in identifying their
people priorities. Group agrees the overall strategy and
thrust, then local teams tailor the content and delivery of
how they achieve that goal to their country’s needs and
expectations. “Our People Plan must future proof Tesco to
cope with the new challenges and trends,” says Michael,
“But how it is delivered on the ground needs to look and
feel local to have the desired impact.”
“With the collection of employee feedback becoming ever
easier, we need to have clear governance on employee
survey activities in each of our markets” adds Gary.
“‘Survey vogue’ can become ‘survey rogue’ very quickly.
Poorly thought out survey activities can undermine
employee confidence and create engagement nightmares
that are challenging to undo.”
What can I do about it?
1
Widen your perspective
Make sure you have a truly global team in place responsible for setting your
engagement strategy and designing your core employee survey.
2
Strike the right balance
Inject a measure of local autonomy into engagement, but not at the expense of
fragmenting engagement activity.
This may mean allowing some local adaptation of your global survey. Or giving managers
the freedom to interpret survey results through a local lens, and adjust action plans to
their needs. Also consider building a network of regional co-ordinators and engagement
champions to help with the localization process.
But don’t jump blindly into localization, just because it’s good practice. Yes, you should
benefit from it, but remember that your engagement strategy must be aligned with your
company strategy. The right balance between global and local engagement activity will
depend on your organization’s overall objectives.
3
Drive alignment
Scan and understand the different cultures that may exist within your organization.
Evaluate the similarities and differences, and assess whether people’s behaviors need to
be better aligned to achieve your business strategy.
4
Foster collaboration
Equip people to collaborate globally: the emotional attributes, cultural awareness and
linguistic skills. Move talent around the business, and give staff the opportunity to work
abroad. This will enable them to cross-fertilize ideas, foster world-class performance and
gain a wider perspective.
5
Share success
Create platforms for engagement managers to share best practice globally – online and
offline. For example Aegon, an international provider of insurance, pensions and asset
management created an innovative ‘engagement map of the world’ for managers to
draw on successes from within the company.
Make use of your intranet, start online discussion forums or consider introducing a
corporate social network. International retailer Tesco uses Yammer to share information
globally between engagement managers.
“For us, Yammer is a valuable sharing tool, but it’s more than that,” Michael Webley,
Head of Global People Insight at Tesco told us. “It’s a great way to boost emotional
engagement. It reminds us that there’s a Tesco world out there beyond our local market
or store. And when people are more connected, they’re more engaged.”
But don’t forget to hold face-to-face knowledge-sharing sessions from time to time. A
leading UK public sector organization combines an intranet platform with processes for
engagement ‘champions’ to come together and share ideas.
8
the new rules of engagement
environmental crisis
less is more
What is the environmental crisis megatrend?
The environmental crisis is a disruptive combination of accelerating climate change,
and a growing scarcity of raw materials (oil, water and minerals).
This will create no end of challenges for businesses: heightened volatility, inflated
costs, squeezed margins and frustrated investors. And it will drive an increasing
concern for the environment among stakeholders, including employees.
Pressure will mount on companies to create sustainable operations. Environmental
responsibility will become business critical, especially in an individualized world.
Employees will become more preoccupied with ethical issues such as climate change,
and will expect their concerns to be heard.
What will it mean for engagement?
Businesses must respond to the demand for
sustainability to maintain their workforces’ engagement
and commitment. Failure to do so will put them at a
disadvantage in the war for talent, particularly in the
eyes of younger workers.
But sustainability – and for that matter, all CSR – must
be genuine: if not, it will only harm engagement. As
Juergen Fitschen, Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank, told his
staff: “we don’t just want to be perceived as being a
decent bank; we want to be one.”
Firms need to be seen as ‘going green’ for the right
reasons – not just to cut costs as raw materials become
more expensive.
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
There is a real risk to corporate reputations if
commitment to environmental protection is not rock
solid: companies must give employees the confidence
that the firm is responding to climate change in the
right way and that it is well-positioned for the future.
What’s more, in an individualistic and transparent
world, employees will be only too happy to call
unsustainable practices to account. And it will be all too
easy for them to do so in the digital era (see page 14).
What can I do about it?
1
Make it your purpose
Your commitment to environmental responsibility needs to be part of your strategy and
employee value proposition. Make clear that you exist not just to achieve your corporate
objectives – but to do so sustainably.
This will give your workforce a vision to get behind. A strong strategic narrative that
defines where the organization is headed is an essential pillar of engagement.
2
Explore sentiment
Use your engagement survey as a tool to really mine staff expectations of the company’s
environmental efforts. And use the outputs to inform your narrative.
3
Go public
Decide your environmental objectives, and publicly commit to them. Announce and
communicate them – internally and externally. Think Sony’s ‘Road to Zero’: a high-profile,
much-publicized promise to drastically reduce environmental impact. Similarly, UK
building society Nationwide declares its environmental targets on its website, and tracks
progress against them.
4
Make it real
Bring your employees on the journey. Give them clear ways to support environmental
policies.
For example, Vodafone’s World of Difference initiative encourages staff to take time off to
work for their charity of choice. At HSBC, 100,000 employees across four continents have
participated in online research into issues affecting freshwater as part of the company’s
Water Programme, an initiative that works with charities to provide safe drinking water
and protect freshwater ecosystems. And under Deutsche Bank’s ‘Passion for the Planet’
campaign, employees volunteer to help out on environmental projects.
5
Lead by example
Make sure your managers’ behavior and actions exemplify your environmental values.
Reward sustainable behavior and performance.
6
Monitor and measure
Ensure your employee survey examines changing environmental concerns and how your
people think you measure up.
10
the new rules of engagement
demographic change
social insecurity
What is the demographic change megatrend?
The world’s population is growing and ageing.
For businesses, an ageing population means a growing skills shortage. With the babyboom generation hitting retirement age, experienced talent will be at a premium. This
will put pressure on younger workers to quickly become mature and skilled leaders.
Organizations need to invest time and effort now to develop the next generation, and
make sure they’re ready to lead the company into the future.
Some organizations are dropping their retirement age altogether, allowing them to
retain vital knowledge, skills and experience, which can then be transferred to younger
staff over time.
However, ageing also brings the challenge of managing an increasingly age-diverse
workforce. Businesses now need to understand, lead, manage and motivate teams
made up of four generations, all with their own needs and motivators.
What does it mean for engagement?
The skills shortage will make attracting and retaining
talent more critical than ever. Organizations will need
to foster a culture and conditions that motivates and
enables staff of all ages and cultures to perform.
This will mean working with different groups of
employees in different ways. Data from our extensive
employee opinion database shows that what engages
younger staff looks very different to what older workers
demand.
Younger employees (Gen Y’ers and Millennials) focus on
the future.They want opportunities to progress, to build
and test their skills in as many areas as possible and
regular and constructive feedback on performance.
Not only will organizations need to react to this to
keep employees engaged, but doing so will become
critical in order to fill the leadership pipeline as
the baby boomers leave the workforce. However
companies must proceed with care. There is a risk
of over-promoting young workers before they have
the necessary skills and experience, and leaving
them with nowhere to progress is a clear recipe for
disengagement. Developing multiple career paths can
help avoid this pitfall.
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
For their part, mature employees (Veterans and Baby
Boomers) tend to look for security. They need to know
they are working for a strong, successful organization,
with a clear and compelling strategic direction.
Confident in their abilities, they seek a fair balance
between their contribution and reward.
Inter-generational learning and understanding will
be needed to help an age-diverse workforce to work
together, and to foster a two-way knowledge transfer.
Younger staff can help older colleagues understand
new technologies; while older workers pass on the
knowledge and skills they’ve built up over years.
This sort of mutual collaboration should tap into the
motives of both groups. The opportunity to learn
from and network with senior colleagues will appeal
to younger employees, who are driven by skills
development and fast career progression. Older team
members may relish the challenge of helping junior
staff, and the prospect of leaving a positive legacy
when they retire.
What can I do about it?
1
Understand their motives
Find out what drives the different age groups in your workforce. Analyse employee
feedback, for example through your employee survey, to identify their needs and
motivations.
2
Understand the implications
Audit what demographic change will mean for your organization, in terms of:
 how to get the best from each age group’s skills, knowledge and experience
 the learning and development needs of different groups of employees
 the career paths and HR policies required to meet the needs of each age group
 your reward packages (compensation, benefits, well-being programs and so on)
3
Tailor training
Adapt learning and development to the needs of each age group. Establish age-diverse
workgroups to enable mutual, intergenerational knowledge sharing. Create processes
to help managers lead junior team members, for example by providing more direction,
support, and continuous feedback. Train leaders on intergenerational management –
including performance management, coaching and developmental planning.
4
Adapt your policies
Support the needs of different generations through flexible working arrangements.
Nationwide, for example, offer older employees in critical roles the opportunity to work
on specific projects as ‘expert consultants’ following retirement. This helps retain the
extensive knowledge of experienced workers.
Understand the career aspirations of different generations, and develop multiple career
paths which take employees in and out of different business areas. Clear communication
of what this involves, why it’s happening and how employees can benefit is crucial.
Without this, younger employees in particular could become disengaged as such an
approach may not follow typical perceptions of progression.
Analyse and adapt to the different reward needs of each age group. Use the results to
help tailor reward packages, for example by offering a flexible ‘benefits menu’.
5
Establish trust
These kinds of ‘Age-friendly’ policies send a message that you trust your staff to work in
different ways and continue to give their best. Meanwhile, intergenerational teams will
help create a climate of trust and respect between the different age groups.
Tesco has established a mentoring scheme for this purpose, and to enable knowledge
transfer between age groups. This sort of scheme works well for both ends of the age
scale: younger generations thrive on connections, while older staff are happy to leave
their legacy.
6
Plan for the future
Identify your most critical roles and skills gaps, and ensure you have succession plans
in place.
Starbucks puts a strong emphasis on strategic workforce planning (SWP) – the coffeeshop chain has a dedicated global SWP team. Its purpose is to help leaders think
beyond short-term reactionary hiring, and focus on medium and long-term planning
in line with business strategy.
12
the new rules of engagement
individualism
power to the person
What is the individualism megatrend?
Globalization 2.0 will boost the wealth of consumers in
emerging markets, and consequently their freedom to
choose.
This will transform our motives as consumers and
employees. Money will no longer be the main influence
on life and career decisions. Other priorities will
come into play, such as fulfilment, meaning, selfdevelopment, recognition and work-life balance.
“
These factors are deeply personal, and unique to each
of us. But they matter. People will demand that their
employers take note of their individual needs and
preferences.
Our smart and flexible
ways of working
means we can attract
highly talented people
who have something
else in their life more
important than work.
”
Amanda Revis
Group Executive, Suncorp Human Resources
What does it mean for engagement?
A single message to the workforce will no longer cut it.
People will demand to be treated as individuals.
Engagement will need to be more personal, tapping into
each employee’s needs, drivers, outlook and expectations.
Job descriptions, appraisals, development plans, career
paths and reward systems will need to be more tailored.
Tom Plug, Lead Engagement Expert at KPN, told us: “Oneto-one dialogue is critical: it’s conversations between
managers and their employees which allow us to start
acting in a more personal way that’s appealing to them.”
The individualism megatrend will create huge complexity
for engagement professionals. But it may also offer
a solution. Organizations can harness its power, by
encouraging people to manage their own development
and career progression.
In an individualistic world, employees will want – even
expect – this sort of accountability. But making it happen
will require a change of thinking and behaviour at all
levels. Performance management will no longer be
the ‘manager’s job’; it must become a combined effort
between managers and their team members.
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
Managers will therefore need to move beyond acting
purely as an ‘authorizer’, approving promotions, pay rises
and holidays. Instead, they must play the role of coach,
mentor, developer and most importantly, people engager.
To do this, they’ll need to spend time understanding each
team member as an individual, and be able to adapt their
leadership style to suit the needs of each one.
Line managers will need training and education to make
the transition – and this will need to come from the
top. After all, it’s easier to coach if you’ve been coached
yourself in the past. But it will be worth the investment:
our World’s Most Admired Companies research shows
that the best leaders spend as much as 30% of their
time understanding others’ needs, and coaching and
developing team members.
Coaching and mentoring should also be part of
managers’ job descriptions, development programs
and performance targets and feedback – to make them
accountable for their ‘new’ role.
Finally, managing diverse team members with
individualistic attitudes will call for ‘bounded autonomy’.
This means giving staff the freedom to do what’s
needed to achieve their objectives – but within defined
boundaries and a clear overall direction.
What can I do about it?
1
Give ownership
4
Give people the tools to manage their own
development. Software applications like our TalentQ
suite allow people to assess their own strengths,
behaviors, character traits and learning needs.
Peer recognition can be a powerful motivator. Create
platforms for staff to praise each other’s good work –
for example, a dedicated intranet page.
British electrical retailer Dixons has an intranet
platform called ‘You’re Electric’, where employees
can thank each other for their efforts. Crucially for
a technology firm, the scheme was designed – by
Dixons staff themselves – to be available anytime,
anywhere, over any device. Less than a year after
launch, 15,700 employees had posted more than
47,000 ‘thank yous’, and engagement scores were up
by 5-10% in ‘pulse’ surveys.
This sends a positive message that you trust your
staff to take responsibility for their progression.
What’s more, managers can use the results to
help adapt their management style for each team
member.
2
Set boundaries
It’s important to ensure that individuals don’t put
their personal objectives above those of the team
and the business. Performance management and
reward still need to encourage the right skills
and behaviors to help achieve the organization’s
objectives.
3
5
Let employees know where they should expect
development to happen (for example, in their dayto-day job roles or through formal initiatives). Then
clarify the roles and responsibilities of employees,
managers, and the organization.
“
Encourage continuous feedback
Introduce forums for staff to flag any issues they
encounter, or barriers in the way of them doing their
job. Allow colleagues to comment in response. This
generates a real-time feed of important engagement
information.
Diversify training
Examine individuals’ learning and development
needs and consider how to tailor learning and
development accordingly. Assess whether your
current training practices help teach leaders and
managers how to adapt their management styles
for different employees.
Promote individual recognition
6
Enable knowledge-sharing
Create processes that allow the entire organization
to draw on individual skills and attributes. Establish a
‘skills exchange’, where employees can find out about
and tap into each other’s abilities – e.g. languages
spoken or IT knowledge.
A favorite quote of mine is ‘Don’t forget to
bring yourself to work’. At KPN, we encourage
employees to make full use of their unique
intangible assets, their talents, skills, knowledge
and network. It’s a case of saying: ‘show us what
makes you successful in your job and as a person.’
Tom Plug
Lead Engagement Expert, KPN
”
14
the new rules of engagement
digitization
remote possibilities
What is the digitization megatrend?
The digital revolution is challenging the way
we work. The web, social media and mobile
connectivity call into question the need for
conventional workplaces and hierarchies.
They blur the boundaries between private
and professional life. And they create an
‘always-on’ culture.
“
Younger workers – so-called ‘digital natives’ –
operate as comfortably in the virtual domains
as the ‘real’ one. And their technical prowess
gives them an edge over older colleagues,
who weren’t brought up with the internet,
smartphones, apps, Facebook and Twitter.
Having a flexible approach
to when, where and how
work is done is… part
of our commitment to
supporting people to be
the best they can be –
inside and outside work.
Amanda Revis
Group Executive, Suncorp Human Resources
”
What does it mean for engagement?
Digital technology is reversing the balance of power
between employers and employees in a number of ways:
 It creates a climate of transparency, putting
reputations at risk. Employees and customers
can instantly share information about companies
and colleagues – good or bad – with the world at
large.
 Social media offers a platform for talented
individuals to promote their abilities and
achievements, making them more accessible to
competitors.
 Online resources make it easier for employees to
compare their compensation, career opportunities
and work environments with the competition.
In this context, sustaining engagement through a
culture of trust and ethical standards is essential. It will
help discourage employees from exposing sensitive
information, and from moving to competitor firms.
Digital technology can boost productivity and
engagement. It enables organizations to understand far
more about employees’ attitudes, needs and preferences,
and to tailor their practices to boost engagement.
Suncorp, a leading financial services group in Australia
and New Zealand, has had great success with its W@H
(‘Work at Home’) initiative which has allowed them
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
to attract high performing individuals who previously
found securing work difficult due to factors such as
a disability or their carer role. These individuals work
mostly from home, and live within a 30 minute commute
of one of the company’s W@H Hubs, which are used for
team meetings and training. Suncorp’s employee surveys
show that W@H staff are more engaged and less likely to
leave than their workforce generally. And they perform
better than similar business units where employees don’t
generally work from home.
Using the Hubs as ‘connection points’ has helped
Suncorp overcome one of the downsides of technology.
Remote working must be balanced with the need for
face-to-face communication.
What’s more, firms need to manage the implications
of employees being ‘always-on’. What is the impact on
work-life balance and engagement over the long term?
How will it affect the exchange between contribution
and reward – and more importantly, employees’
perception of that exchange?
Rapid changes in technology can also quickly leave
people’s skills out of date. Continuous learning will be
essential to sustain engagement and productivity.
What can I do about it?
1
Play to technology’s strengths
Technology is considered a basic right by many younger workers. Identify where it can
have a positive impact – for example, by connecting people, communicating with the
workforce, streamlining processes, or making essential tools and information available
anywhere, anytime.
Assess where social media can facilitate collaboration, knowledge-sharing and
recognition. Identify ‘pilot groups’ to trial new technology platforms.
“Digitization is an opportunity as well as a challenge,” says Michael Webley, Head of
Global People Insight at Tesco. “It’s a way for colleagues to connect, share and learn from
each other. And it’s a way to enable people to do their job, and to keep them updated on
what’s happening at the company; the products and services we have.”
“That’s what keeps people engaged, and when we know more about the company we’re
more likely to become brand advocates.”
2
Protect work-life balance
Educate managers about the pitfalls of an always-on culture, and make sure they keep
tabs on their teams’ working habits. Encourage them to lead by example, by building
responsibility for work-life balance into their performance metrics. Assign overall
accountability for this issue at leadership level.
3
Maintain face time
Make sure managers bring their teams together in person on a regular basis.
Technology mustn’t create electronic silos in the workplace. As people, we need to
maintain relationships and build trust through face-to-face interaction. Managers will
play a critical role in fostering relationships, keeping morale high and fusing people’s
knowledge through social events.
4
Analyse your reward
Use benchmarking tools to make sure your compensation is competitive. In the digital
era, staff can easily find ways to compare their package with the market. Analyse your
survey results to understand what employees think about their reward and want from
their package.
Then take a holistic approach. Look beyond pay and the usual benefits to the intangible
rewards you offer, such as career progression, learning and development, team spirit and
flexible working. Employees tend to focus on the ‘hard’ aspects of reward, so make sure
you communicate the whole picture.
5
Reward impact
Recognize outcomes, not just ‘inputs’. Given the flexibility of the digital era, and the
drive for work-life balance in an individualized world, people might not always work
conventional hours. Performance measures need to focus on the achievements they
make, not how and when they work.
6
Manage expectations
Some employees will expect the best possible IT to be available to them at work –
particularly in technology firms. Make clear the art of the possible, and don’t overpromise.
16
the new rules of engagement
technology convergence
great leaps forward
What is the technology convergence megatrend?
Life is about to get considerably more advanced. A combination of NBIC (nano,
bio, information and cognitive) sciences will lead to a wave of technological
breakthroughs. This will transform many areas of our everyday lives, giving rise to new
product markets and leaving others behind.
The pace of change will accelerate beyond imagination. In the race for innovation,
highly technical NBIC research will demand new forms of collaboration – between
business functions, companies, competitors and even whole scientific fields.
What will it mean for engagement?
Engagement suffers during periods of uncertainty.
Employees can be nervous about change, and feel
insecure or demotivated when the goalposts are
continuously moving. Their need for information
outstrips what management can provide, damaging
confidence in the leadership and direction of the firm.
And as convergence gathers pace, it will be harder
than ever to stay ahead of the innovation curve and to
make long term investment decisions. Communicating
‘what’s next’ will become increasingly difficult.
At the same time, companies needs to ask more of
employees to get through change. This can harm
perceptions of the exchange between contribution
and reward.
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
Some breakthroughs will prove controversial.
Organizations will need to respect the societal
consensus on progress to keep employees engaged
behind the strategic vision. High ethical standards
and mutual trust will help ensure that staff act in the
best interests of the company, and in line with what’s
socially acceptable.
Collaboration may prove uncomfortable for competing
businesses, and for technical specialists from different
disciplines (who generally prefer to focus on their own
area of expertise). Companies will need to establish the
right climate, processes and platforms for collaboration
to succeed, and equip people with the right skills and
attributes.
What can I do about it?
1
Be transparent
The key to keeping people engaged during change
is to communicate clearly, honestly and regularly.
A strong understanding of the firm’s position and
strategic direction will generate confidence in the
future.
One European telecoms company we work with
excels at communicating with employees about its
future. The pace of change and innovation at the
firm is rapid, but communication is regular, honest
and open. As a result, employee surveys consistently
show confidence in the future of the organization,
pride among staff and a clear understanding of the
organization’s strategy.
2
Promote the benefits
4
Involve employees in the journey
One of our clients holds events and family days for
employees to celebrate major new product launches,
engaging the workforce by building excitement.
5
Learn from the past
Review employee sentiment during previous change
programs to identify learnings to help steer your
company through future change.
6
Skill your workforce
Make sure employees are trained on how to use new
technology. Consider starting with younger workers,
then using your intergenerational learning processes
to spread knowledge.
Communicate the development opportunities that
come with change.
3
Communicate from the middle
Middle managers play a crucial ‘sense-making’ role
in times of change, helping employees understand
what’s happening and what it all means for them.
Your leaders must make sure that managers at all
levels are aligned with the company’s direction,
and understand the importance of reinforcing the
message. Unease among managers will quickly
cascade down through the workforce.
“
In times of change, a strong and clear narrative
helps employees see their organization’s vision, and
understand the journey they’re being asked to go on.
Getting that narrative right is essential. But it
isn’t easy to do. It takes leadership buy-in and
involvement to create and share the story, and
make sense of it for the workforce.
Rodney Jordan
Director of Employee Communications, Coca-Cola Enterprises
”
18
the new rules of engagement
Building for the future:
Nationwide and the megatrends
We asked Keith Astill, Divisional Director – Corporate HR at Nationwide, about the impact
of the megatrends on engagement at the UK building society. This is what he told us.
“
Hay Group’s Leadership 2030 research really strikes a chord with us at Nationwide. We’ve
been aware of some of the megatrends for a while - and we’ve been looking at what to do
about them to maintain and improve employee engagement, both in the short and long
term.
Globalization 2.0
Globalization makes it easier for competitors to enter the UK market. Obviously this is a
threat to our customer base, and to our ability to attract and retain talent.
We need to be agile enough to respond. This means having flexible and responsive
structures and jobs. Roles need to shift to meet competitive threats and changing consumer
demands whilst still offering a fulfilling challenge to keep our employees motivated.
To support this, we’ve created several Functional Academies that give employees the
opportunity to experience what is required to undertake other roles and the new skills they
need to learn in order to do so. This allows for a much deeper set of career conversations
between employees and their manager and means the employee can take greater control
over the direction of their career. This is all part of our Know – Grow – Flow talent strategy.
Environmental crisis
The need to be a good corporate citizen is abundantly clear. Younger staff – graduates in
particular – are asking us more and more about our CSR objectives and performance. We
really believe our CSR agenda helps differentiate us an employer.
So we’ve made our environmental targets public. They’re on our website, along with our
performance against them. Knowing how important this is to our staff, we ask how they feel
we measure up in our employee survey, ViewPoint.
We’ve also developed a five-year ‘citizenship strategy’ called Living On Your Side. Employee
involvement is a key part of this: 56% of our 17,000 people actively get involved in activities
such as our Green Action Week. Through our work with Hay Group, we know that staff
involved in such schemes feel more engaged.
Demographic change
For more than a decade now, we’ve been aware of the need to retain the knowledge, skills
and experience of our older workers. And we’ve seen older employees increasingly wanting
to stay with us beyond retirement age. The majority of these older workers are in customer
facing roles and we know that they help increase customer satisfaction.
We knew we needed to change our HR practices in response. So we increased our
retirement age back in 2001 – then dropped it altogether in 2011. Now, 16 percent of our
workforce are over 50 years old, 2% are over 60, and the proportion of over-65s is on the up.
This has powerful benefits. It keeps vital experience in the firm, meaning it can be
transferred to our younger staff. It allows older employees to continue working if they wish
to. And importantly, it’s given us a workforce that more closely reflects our customer base.
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
”
Fit for the future
With a quarter of employees worldwide set to change jobs by 2018 and the megatrends
already reshaping employee engagement, here are five key steps you can take now to
future-proof your engagement strategy:
1.
K
now what you’re up against
Assess which megatrends will have the greatest impact on your organization.
What are their implications for your workforce? How will they affect
engagement among your employees?
2.
Audit where you are now
What changes do you need to make? How significant are they? How far is your
engagement strategy from where it needs to be in the future?
3.
B
uild the business case
Gather evidence on the megatrends and the changes they will demand. Make
clear how your employee value proposition needs to change. Use this to push
the future of engagement, and the necessary changes, up the corporate agenda.
Put the case in business terms: highlight where your organization is struggling
and the role engagement will play in addressing problems.
4.
Find allies
Build networks internally with the right people in the right functions to help
you to make change happen – for example, HR, recruitment, learning and
development, internal communications and CSR. Create a taskforce of key
people who can work together to make change happen.
5.
Keep in touch
Gather views throughout the employee lifecycle, in order to understand how
engagement and its drivers are evolving in light of the megatrends.
“
I feel it’s my responsibility as a HR professional
to place future-proof engagement on the
board and HR agenda…to create awareness
and a sense of urgency that change is
happening, and that we need to be ready.
Tom Plug
Lead Engagement Expert, KPN
”
20
the new rules of engagement
Five little words
In just five words, online video streaming service Netflix captures everything its staff
need to know about expenses. The firm’s official policy on ‘Expensing, Entertainment,
Gifts and Travel’ is summarized simply as: Act in Netflix’s best interest.
This succinct instruction also sums up much of what engagement needs to look like
in a world shaped by the megatrends. As a policy, it is:
Enabling
rather than tying their people up in pages of rules and regulations,
it simply sets out how they should think and act.
Empowering
it gives employees the responsibility for their own behavior when it
comes to spending the company’s money.
Trusting
it tells employees that the company knows they’ll do the right thing –
helping to build a climate of mutual trust and respect.
Adaptable
acting in the organization’s best interest gives people scope to do
what’s expected according to local customs and practices.
Continual
it’s built into everyday business operations - like engagement, it’s not just
a one-off exercise.
As employees’ needs and drivers evolve in a changing world, perhaps we could all take
inspiration from Netflix’s example when setting engagement strategies and policies.
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
Surveying the road ahead
“To understand the pace of change, look no further
than your employee survey,” says Rodney Jordan,
Director of Employee Communications at Coca-Cola
Enterprises.
New approaches
We asked heads of engagement about the role of
the employee survey in a future characterized by
change. Their message is clear: it’s an essential tool for
understanding the impact of a changing world.
“We need a range of listening channels,” says Michael
Webley. Tesco keeps a close eye on what’s being
discussed on its Yammer site, he explains.
“We constantly see the effects of change coming
through in the results of our surveys,” Rodney affirms.
A snapshot in time
The employee survey provides a vital snapshot of
engagement at a particular point in time. “It lets us
know what we’re doing well, and what we need to do
better,” says Rodney.
At Tesco they hold a similar view: “The survey is a
valuable tool. It lets us know how the company as a
whole is feeling at a given moment, which informs our
engagement strategy,” says Michael Webley, Head of
Global People Insight at Tesco.
And the benefits go further, he points out: “The survey
makes everybody feel consulted about the decisions
that affect them.”
“
But that’s not to suggest that organizations rely solely
on an annual survey. It should be one of several tools
for monitoring how employees are feeling.
“We will always need to measure company-wide
engagement once or twice a year. But in a fastchanging world, we must also keep tabs in real time.
This means using less formal channels.”
Keith Astill, Divisional Director – Corporate HR at UK
building society Nationwide, agrees. “How businesses
survey their workers will evolve. We might see a move
towards doing smaller, more frequent surveys, and
letting people air their views on an ongoing basis, over
a variety of platforms.
“Companies already monitor customer feedback in this
way, so why not employee sentiment? As the world
goes through unprecedented change, we need to get
closer to our people than ever.”
To understand the
pace of change, look
no further than your
employee survey.
Rodney Jordan
Director of Employee Communications,
Coca-Cola Enterprises
For further information
To find out how we can help you future proof your engagement strategy
please visit: www.haygroup.com/ww/newrulesofengagement
”
22
the new rules of engagement
Have you seen…
Our global Employee Engagement Forum is a program of
events hosted in major cities throughout the world, which
has been developed to help business leaders and HR
executives increase levels of employee engagement and
enablement within their organizations.
Attend an Employee Engagement Forum close to you and:
 Learn from world-leading organizations who are using employee surveys
to drive business performance;
 Learn how your employee survey can drive impactful business outcomes;
 Learn how to achieve higher levels of performance and lasting change;
 Participate in lively debates and interactions with your peers;
 Network with your peers in an informal and relaxed environment.
For more information and to view our calendar of upcoming events
please visit www.haygroup.com/employeeengagementforum
©2014 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
Africa
Cape Town
Johannesburg
Pretoria
Asia
Bangkok
Beijing
Ho Chi Minh City
Hong Kong
Jakarta
Kuala Lumpur
Mumbai
New Delhi
Seoul
Shanghai
Shenzhen
Singapore
Tokyo
Europe
Amsterdam
Athens
Barcelona
Berlin
Bilbao
Birmingham
Bratislava
Brussels
Bucharest
Budapest
Dublin
Edinburgh
Enschede
Frankfurt
Helsinki
Istanbul
Kiev
Lille
Lisbon
London
Madrid
Manchester
Milan
Moscow
Oslo
Paris
Prague
Rome
Stockholm
Strasbourg
Vienna
Vilnius
Warsaw
Zeist
Zurich
Latin America
Bogotá
Buenos Aires
Caracas
Lima
Mexico City
Rio de Janeiro
San José
Santiago
São Paulo
Middle East
Doha
Dubai
Riyadh
North America
Atlanta
Boston
Calgary
Chicago
Dallas
Edmonton
Halifax
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Montreal
New York Metro
Ottawa
Philadelphia
Regina
San Francisco
Toronto
Vancouver
Washington DC Metro
Pacific
Auckland
Brisbane
Melbourne
Perth
Sydney
Wellington
Hay Group is a global leader in employee opinion research. Through
customized survey programs focussed on organizational objectives
we partner with clients to attract and retain talent, improve operating
efficiency, manage change more effectively, and enhance customer
loyalty and organizational performance.
For more information please visit www.haygroup.com/ww/newrulesofengagement